Stolen Lives

February 7, 2011
In Mackenzie's fine second crime novel featuring Johannesburg PI Jade de Jong (after Random Violence), Jade agrees to take what she considers an easy case, protecting Pamela Jordaan after Jordaan's husband, Terence, disappears. Jade later realizes the job is more than she bargained for, especially after she learns that Terence owned a strip club and his "disappearance" might be more sinister than it first appeared. Meanwhile, Supt. David Patel, who's adjusting to his new position in the Organized Crime Division, is trying to patch things up with his estranged wife and sort out his feelings for Jade. To complicate matters, Scotland Yard detectives from the human trafficking unit get in touch with Patel after they raid a London brothel whose owner, a dangerous man with South African ties, may be connected to Jade's case. Under Mackenzie's deft hand, Jo'berg and Jade crackle with frenetic energy.

February 15, 2011

A plucky p.i. gets more than she bargained for when she signs on as bodyguard to a high-maintenance matron.

In London, the police raid of a house of prostitution goes horribly wrong when one female suspect escapes after sinking her teeth into the neck of an arresting officer. About a week later in Johannesburg, Terence Jordaan, awakened late at night by a downstairs noise, goes to investigate. His wife Pamela, following a few minutes later, finds no trace of her husband. Private eye Jade de Jong arrives back at her rented cottage after an early-morning run to see the distraught Pamela sitting in a parked car just outside. Jade, who's recently ended an affair with rugged (and married) police superintendent David Patel, needs the distraction of a case. She figures that guarding the histrionic Pamela will be a snap until an unknown gunman takes a shot at them. And the more Jade learns about the Jordaans, like the fact that Terence owns a chain of "classy" strip clubs and Pamela is a former call girl, the leerier she becomes. Complicating the case is the apparent disappearance of Pamela's daughter Tamsin as well. David, meanwhile, struggles with his own problems with ex Naisha and a crime that hits close to home. David and Jade team up to untangle a crime wave with international dimensions.

Jade's sophomore adventure (Random Violence, 2010) provides a crackling pace and nonstop action, though little narrative finesse. Mackenzie's Johannesburg is as gritty and dangerous as noir L.A. or the drug meccas of South America. 

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Starred review from February 1, 2011

Pamela Jordaan hires PI Jade de Jong (Random Violence) as a bodyguard when her husband disappears from their home outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. At the same time the London police are investigating a brothel known to be involved in human trafficking. It soon becomes apparent to the reader that both cases are somehow connected. The fun here is how neatly Mackenzie ties it all together. Jade is a much-conflicted woman who has to face the truth about her parents and her background yet again. VERDICT This second Jade de Jong book is just as violent as the author's acclaimed debut. However, Mackenzie offers insight into postapartheid South Africa, an area of the world unfamiliar to most U.S. mystery buffs. For those readers who like Sara Paretsky and Lynda La Plante and fans of international crime fiction.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.